Show some respect or walk away

Clarke is the captain. Watson has to live with the "issues" or move on.

Getty Images: Ryan Pierse

In sport, if not in politics, respect can and should be demanded. Australia's Test vice-captain Shane Watson should learn that lesson quickly or do the honourable thing and walk, writes Barrie Cassidy.

Respect, they say, has to be earned, not demanded.

The argument goes that our politicians haven't earned that respect; that the institution of the Parliament itself has lost its standing.

And the more prime ministers, premiers and chief ministers are chopped down by their parties midterm, the more the public loses faith in the political processes and, indeed, in democracy itself.

Likewise in sport. Fears that entire football clubs have been cheating, engaging in widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs, does nothing for the respect that fans have for the various codes.

Neither does the Australian cricket team demand respect when, riddled with internal dissensions, it capitulates without a fight on the subcontinent.

But a lack of respect is no excuse for the boorish behaviour we have seen in both politics and sport this week.

Maybe it was the hangover from the 100th birthday celebrations, but Canberra was the venue for two such performances. In the House of Representatives, foul-mouthed demonstrators shouted abuse at the Prime Minister before being ejected. And across town, rugby league star Josh Dugan sat on the roof of his house drinking alcohol and tweeting photographs to his mates.

Whatever her failings, the Prime Minister did not deserve such disrespect, and neither did Dugan's Canberra Raiders teammates. But such behaviour, it seems, is endemic right now.

There is the trivial, with Collingwood forward Travis Cloke showing no respect for authority by parking in the CEO's space. All good fun until it became a habit and he was hit with a $1,000 fine, reduced on appeal to community work.

But far more serious - and right at the top of the pile - is the case of the four miscreants from the underperforming cricket team.

Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson and James Pattinson scored the trifecta by showing a lack of respect to teammates, coaches and country.

They were asked to do something that most athletes would welcome: contribute a few ideas to improve the team's performance. It was either beyond or beneath them, and came on top of a range of attitudinal failures.

Then Watson, the vice-captain with special obligations, compounded the problem by saying of team performance manager Pat Howard: "He comes from a rugby background and he hasn't been in and around cricket very long."

There it is. A lack of respect because the manager doesn't fit the player's profile. Howard apparently, in Watson's mind, has to earn respect. Well, no, he doesn't. Howard - and coach Mickey Arthur - must have respect simply by virtue of their positions.

No other approach will work. Equally, it's a nonsense for team officials to try and sort through "issues" between Michael Clarke and Watson. Clarke is the captain. Watson has to live with the "issues" or move on.

It was bad enough that Watson spent weeks publicly laying claim to Ed Cowan's opening spot. It got even worse when he threatened to quit Test cricket over the latest debacle.

Perhaps in politics, respect should be earned. But in sport, it can and should be demanded.

In cricket, walking when you're out is one of most honourable things you can do. If Shane Watson thinks he can threaten authorities with a premature retirement, then he should go right ahead: walk, and then count the number of people who care.